Tortoise Brooches, Birka

A pair of detailed Viking tortoise brooches found in Birka, Sweden. Tortoise brooches (dress brooches) are worn in pairs on the front of a Viking woman's dress. It was customary to suspend a string of beads and charms between them.

The brooches are sold in pairs.

Norse women wore pairs of oval brooches to fasten the shoulder straps of a tunic worn over other garments. Beads of amber, wood or glass may have hung between these brooches or a chain with useful items such as a comb or keys. Nearly all finds of dress brooches are crafted from bronze.